https://www.flickr.com/photos/comedynose/24130316294/in/photolist-CLjbm7-2jxB5Sz-2jxEnR1-2jxEopL-2jxFwpx-2jxEpgv-2jxB7c8-djuFEt-ayU95P-ayUdse-9Ug6Gz-2jxFtQK-2jxB4Uc-241zvj8-2jxEoUU-2jxFvnT-pER9xt-89mK1C-2jxB5J3-2jxB34d-2jxB4nR-boWR1y-2jxB7n8-2jxB3tS-3d52km-2jxEkUa-2jxEn5M-9Ug6Lv-9Ug5QZ-9UiTAm-2jxB8zU-2jxFrrX-2jxB8gC-2jxEqFz-2jxFupk-2jxEotJ-2jxEozA-2jxB862-9UiUbA-9UiTEj-9UiTZN-9UiTw3-2jxB6J4-9UiTtd-9Ug6gk-2jxEp6a-9Ug6Nx-9UiUh1-9UiTns-9Ug6ut
Photographer: Pete
Final Project
Iterations
Growth from Feedback
During critique, I was offered many valuable suggestions. To start, I was suggested to make the colors of the city reflect the colors of the sky by adding a gradient Layer Mask to my adjustment layers. Second, there were some minor alignment issues with the pattern of the shirt, so I fixed those. Third, the nose-ring was not visible in the 2nd iteration because of the highlight on it, so I removed the highlight so it doesn't blend in with the skin tone. I also removed some of the marks underneath the nose to help the nose ring stick out. Another issue that I resolved was changing the green in the shirt to match the sky. Lastly, I drew some clouds to create cohesion between the sky and the rest of the composition.
Final Project Proposal
Illustration
Title of Piece: In the West
For my final project, I want to create an illustration on Adobe Illustrator of a portrait over a city skyline. This work will be inspired by the artist D457, who creates detailed illustrative portraits.
Culture
This work will align with my aesthetics statement because it will involve the use of bright colors, and will have ties to South Asian culture. The figure will be of a South Asian- American woman, and she will wear floral jewelry, which would be an imitation of nature.
Theory
representation: This figure will take the place of the common images of people associated with the west by including a South Asian woman.
mimesis: The cityscape and portrait will be an imitation of the real world.
remix culture: This piece will mimic the style of D457, and their portraits.
Calendar:
- By Monday Dec 4th, I hope to have an image collage on Photoshop of the composition, as well as a sketch of the portrait. (Iteration 1)
- By Wednesday Dec 6th, I plan on having the cityscape rendered on Illustrator, as well as the rest of the background
- By Friday Dec 8th, I plan on starting to shade the portrait
- By Wednesday Dec 11th, I plan to finish any last touches of Iteration 2.
- By Wednesday Dec 20th, I will have built upon any feedback from critique and will present the final project.
Research:
I want to use Photoshop to render and plan out my reference images. For the portrait, I want to use Adobe Illustrator on iPad, and use the desktop application to create a simplified skyline. I'm hoping to use the color pallette displayed below.
Inspiration: D457
Iterations
Culture
Beresnev Games is a Game Publisher that also makes digital GIFs and art. The artist tends to use simplified, flat and geometric shapes to create people, animals, and GIFS. Their content covers a wide variety of content, including people, landscapes, and animals.
I was drawn to this artist's work because I liked the way they added details with simple shapes. Additionally, the variety of items they were able to create with the same look is quite fascinating. Aligning with my work, I created an arrangement of specific parrots that follow the same, simplified structure. The color palette of the birds are similar as well.
Theory
The critical concept of glitch art (using errors, often in electronic media, for aesthetic purposes) was not used by Beresnev, but was used in my iterations to create the background of Iteration 2.2 and 3. I changed the pixel file data of an image of lettuce in Photoshop to condense the photo into large pixels. I continued the "glitched" look by adding transparencies to the shapes behind the bird to look as if they are integrated within the background pixels.
The critical concept of icon (sign that perceptually resembles the signified) is seen in both Beresnev's art as well as my iterations. Beresnev breaks the complex shapes of birds into simple rectangles and circles, but it is still evident that the images resemble birds. By arranging various simple shapes and changing the colors of them, an artist is able to apply a different style to replicate reality.
Practice
I was not able to find any information about what software Beresnev uses to make his artwork.
This style of work is easy to re-create on Adobe Illustrator using the Shape Builder tool, and the white arrow selection tool to round the edges. The colors of the shapes can be changed to match the color of a real bird with the eyedropper tool. Lastly, the Merge tool in the Pathfinder Panel can connect shapes together so that they act as one shape.
Remediation
Inspiration: Manal Mirza
Iterations
Culture
Manal Mirza is an illustrator who creates works inspired by Pakistani culture and Islamic art. Her work is heavily focused on merging portraits with patterns. The mainly floral patterns are influenced by traditional Pakistani textiles, henna designs, and decorations. In her portraits, she promotes diversity of people, and also merges American culture with Pakistani culture at times.
I am drawn to Mirza's work because I identify with her artistic goals in incorporating more of my ethnic culture into my artwork. I also love how detailed the pattern work is, and how closely it resembles common floral motifs seen on South Asian textiles. Drawing inspiration from her her work, I made a rikshaw, a popular transportation vehicle in India (and many other Asian countries) the main subject of these iterations. I also attempted to re-create a popular West- Indian clothing pattern known as "Bandhani" in my 5th iteration. Lastly, I drew inspiration from her color palette, using more earthy, yet saturated tones in my work.
Theory
The concept of representation (something that stands in for and takes the place of something else) can be seen through Manal Mirza's works in her re-creation of Pakistani textiles. She essentially puts sensory information (the colors, textures, etc.) of the fabrics in a digital illustration. With this though, she replaces non-patterned things with heavy patterns, which makes the depictions of regular objects unrealistic and places emphasis on the pattern instead. My 2nd and 5th iterations do not resemble the original rickshaw, but still find a way to organize reality.
The critical concept of mimesis (representations that mimic the real world) is present in Mirzas work, mainly through the fact that her art is an imitation of nature. The floral patterns, even the ones in regular textiles, are not realistic, but rather a reflection or imitation of nature's beautiful flowers. Additionally, the portraits in her work are not realistic, but still convey real human features in a more abstract way. At a glance, in my 3rd, 4th and 6th iterations, the rickshaw is a close imitation of the real rickshaw,
Practice
Mirza uses Procreate to illustrate her works. She starts off by sketching on Procreate, and adds values and patterns over it in different layers as needed. It appears she uses brushes that imitate paintbrushes.
This style of work would be accomplishable on Adobe Illustrator by using the Paintbrush Tool. Unless if one had a tablet-mouse of some sort, it would be difficult to re-create her works on a PC. But, Adobe Illustrator does have a version for iPads, which would facilitate the process significantly. To create a repeated pattern for a background or as a brush, a pattern can be saved to the Color Swatches panel.
Remix
Inspiration: Natalia Seth
Iterations
Culture
Natalia Seth focuses on creating surreal, playful self-portraits. In addition to creating larger-than-life subjects, her work is also known for its use of vibrant color palettes, often creating monotone, but bright pieces. Additional subjects are often placed in ways that are larger-than-life, or imaginative (ex. floating cats).
I have been inspired by Seth's work for a long time. Unlike most surreal pieces, her work is more chaotic and intense, rather than a delicate, romanticized dream. Something else that attracts me to her work is her interaction between illustration and photography. (Unfortunately, I wasn't able to include her pieces that involve illustrations.) In many cases, her illustrations replicate nature, while the saturation of naturally-occurring things in her works contradict natural properties. To align more closely with my aesthetic statement, I chose photos that were all taken at golden hour, manipulated the naturally-occurring colors of sunflowers, imitated nature with doodles of sunflowers, and included a human interaction (portrait).
Theory
The critical concept of Remediation (incorporation or representation of one medium in another medium) is at the basis of a lot of Natalia Seth's works. When she uses digital illustrations in her work, she often represents the look of marker or pen drawings via the Paint Brush tool on Photoshop or Illustrator. She sometimes paints in elements in the editing process that are meant to look realistic. In my iterations. the doodles of sunflowers are meant to replicate a pastel, pencil or pen drawing, even though they were drawn digitally.
Seth also encodes (establishes meaning in a creative work intended to communicate with an audience) meaning through the use of color schemes and unified subject matter. Even though the meanings in her works are many times lighthearted, they still make a statement through repeated subject matter and emphasis on the portrait. Because the facial expression of the woman in my iterations does not match the mood of the environment created, I created meaning by creating a contour drawing of the serious face. The joyfulness of the sunflowers (which are exclusively placed on or above the rainbow) shows a detachment from the person's mood.
Practice
Seth seems to have a partnership with Adobe CC, so she uses Photoshop and Adobe Express for all of her works. To add in all of her individual subjects, she isolates the content and converts them into Smart Objects so she can easily resize them. With the elements, she most likely uses Layer Adjustments and filters, such as the Blur Filter, to signify the distance of objects. To create monochromatic looks, she could use Solid Color Fill layers with a layer mask. Lately, she has also been making use of Photoshop's Generative AI feature to extend her images, or create new subject matter.
In my iterations, I transformed all of the ingredients Smart objects so I could add filters non-destructively. I made the sunflowers different colors by using a Color Fill layer and masking the center of the sunflowers, so the natural center of them remains. Any tiny sunflowers had a Gaussian blur filter applied to them to indicate that they are farther back into the background.
Growth from Feedback
After finishing my second iteration, I was first suggested to sample colors from the rainbow/background for the sunflower colors to help create uniformity. I took this comment into consideration, and sampled colors for the sunflowers from the background. It was such a huge improvement, and I like the more muted tones, rather than the bright ones. Additionally, I was told to add a blur to all of the sunflowers (doodles or photos) to 1) indicate distance and 2) remove harsh lines. Again, I'm glad I made the change because it helped make the piece more cohesive. Lastly, initially there was a concern of how dark the subject was relative to the background. To change this, I applied a gradient Smart Filter to the part of the background closest to the person. This also helped emphasize the juxtaposition of the woman's expression and the joyful flowers and rainbow.
Myth
Inspiration: Platon Yurich
https://www.instagram.com/platon_yurich/
Iterations
Culture
Platon Yurich focuses on creating surreal, whimsical artwork. His work mainly portrays the interaction between humans and nature. The viewer is drawn to the unorthodox placement of humans and man-made objects in natural environments. With this, he often plays with reflective surfaces to show the natural scenery on them, or highlights specific physical features of the body.
I'm drawn to Yurich's work because of his playfulness in subject matter and how he creates stories in a single piece. I also have an appreciation for his variation in color to convey a specific mood and his use of framing in photos. In my work, I wanted to use an eye, a human feature, peaking out of leaves, an element of trees (nature). I like the almost coincidental gap in the leaves that was used to create a frame for the eye. The lines in the leaf are also used to guide the viewer's eye towards the eye. Additionally, the iris of the eye matches the color of the leaves, which depicts a deep relationship between humans and plants. To align with my aesthetic statement, I changed the green of the leaf and the iris to an unusual, saturated color. In my second iteration, I worked
Theory
While it is not outwardly defined as to what the gender of the person whose eye is in the photo is, the use of hyperrealism (inability to distinguish reality from a fabricated fictional reality that is consumed as real) with make-up (mascara and probably foundation) allow the eye to appear more feminine. The longer, more pronounced, and unrealistic effect on the eyelashes blend seamlessly with reality. It is also unknown if the photographer made any edits to the eye; but without knowing this, we perceive the eye as reality. Overall, Yurich’s work completely denies the concept of portraying reality. But, many of his pieces are portraits, so they could potentially have editing done to the face, blending fiction to the reality of the face itself.
Assuming that the eye in my iteration(s) is a female’s, we can further analyze the message of the photo. The myth (a narrative that supports and validates a culture) of women being associated with nature (and men with industry), is a notion shared across almost all cultures. The photo matches the leaves with the woman’s iris, depicting a close connection between them. Also, the “coincidental” gap of the leaves almost shows that the woman belongs there. Yurich’s work also portrays many depictions of women, and in almost all of them, the woman is in a natural environment. On the other hand, in his portrayals of men, he places them in city landscapes, in cars, on roads, or in front of buildings.
Practice
Yurich tries to avoid using Photoshop in some of his shoots. Instead, he creates props that act as natural reflectors or uses real small objects that could otherwise be edited in. But, when editing photos, he uses Photoshop. In order to create filters over images to exaggerate a particular mood, he probably makes use of smart filters and might play around with the Levels. In these filters, it may be possible that he creates blocks so that certain parts of the image are not affected by the editing. Additionally, In some of his pieces, he samples patterns from other parts of the photo (such as the clouds in the sky) to create the impression of a reflection. In order to achieve this look, he could use reflective surfaces, but he might also use the clone stamp tool to duplicate the pattern on the surface. Also, because many of his works are surreal, he may want to reach a certain perfection in the scenery, so he may use retouching tools, like the spot healing brush, to remove random marks.
In my iterations, I used smart filters (Hue/Saturation and Levels) to completely change the color of the leaves, iris, and the cloth that the pattern of the butterflies comes from. The skin and rest of the eye were blocked out of the smart filter so that they remain a more natural tone. To remove distracting blemishes and highlights, I went in with the healing brush retouch tool. I used the clone stamp tool to duplicate a pattern of cloth from another photo to create a pattern on the simple, white butterflies. I used a fabric whose base color was the same as the colors of the leaves, so I could apply the same edits that I applied to the iris and leaves prior to stamping.
Growth from Feedback- n/a
Personal Aesthetic
Something that catches my attention is the complex relationship that humans have with nature. I think that, of the many ways humans try to connect with nature, replication or imitation of one's surroundings is a fascinating way of appreciating life. An example of this would be how the naturally organized pattern of a peacock translates onto designs of clothing. In this way, I like the way people utilize naturally bright, or earthy tones in things that are artificial (man-made). But, I also think it's interesting that we perceive elements of nature that are saturated with color, or organized perfectly, to be extraordinary because we are accustomed to this perfection in something man-made. For instance, the enjoyable sound of birds chirping in the evening is so precise and consistent, almost like a machine. As it is heavily influenced by nature and makes me feel connected to my roots, I take inspiration from South Asian and Islamic art as well. The period of time in the day called "golden hour" is my favorite because it makes everything (even some ugly things) in an environment seem unbelievably beautiful for a brief period of time.